Ear probe tips of various types are well known in the art. Such devices are typically used in combination with testing equipment for clinical evaluation of hearing loss and/or ear disease. For example, there are procedures for evaluating hearing loss, ear disease or other ear disorders which are known as otoacoustic emissions (OAE) testing and auditory brain-stem response (ABR)testing. Such tests, which rely on acoustical measurements made within the patient's ear canal, include the step of closing off the ear canal with a probe or a removable probe tip. The probe tip may form a seal between the ear canal and the probe tip so that the transmission and receipt of acoustical signals within the closed cavity may be controlled. Several other hearing tests use probes with tips.
However, previous ear probe tips have some inherent disadvantages. One of the disadvantages with prior art tips is that they require an acoustical sound passage or else the test procedure will produce unreliable results. Requiring the tip to include an acoustical sound passage is undesirable because this adds to the cost of manufacturing each tip.
Another disadvantage is that they are not well adapted to different ears. Persons' ears differ in size and shape and have outer ear canals of varying configurations. As a result, great difficulties have been encountered with prior ear probe tips because in most situations, the tip exerts too great a pressure on the ear canal, fails to provide a good acoustic seal between it and the ear canal, or does not prevent the hard inflexible probe end from extending past the tip thereby increasing the risk of resulting damage to the person's ear.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems inherent in existing ear probe tips. The present invention provides an ear probe tip that fits around the probe. A feature of an embodiment of the ear probe tip is that flexible flanges form a substantial acoustic seal between the probe and the outer ear canal for a wide range of ear canal size, thereby permitting ear testing to be done quickly and conveniently without critical adjustments of the probe or of the probe tip. This is of particular value in the case of children or other patients who may have a short attention span or an inability to cooperate in the test procedures. Further, in one embodiment, the probe tip is designed so that it can receive the probe, whereby the probe tip can be positioned fully over the probe while still allowing the probe tip's end to slightly extend past the end of the probe. This configuration does not require each probe tip to comprise an acoustical channel, thereby minimizing the cost to manufacture each probe tip. Further, since the cost is minimized, the probe tip can be disposed of after one use thereby eliminating the need for probe cleaning and providing optimal infection control.
The principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved ear probe tip for use with testing apparatus for hearing loss or other ear problems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel ear probe tip of more efficient form for providing better sealing between the probe tip and a wide range of ear canal size.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a novel ear probe tip that protects the ear from the probe when the probe is inserted into the ear canal.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel ear probe tip that will provide for enhanced retention of the ear probe tip once the ear probe tip is received by the ear canal.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel removable ear probe tip that secures easily to a probe end.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel ear probe tip which is simple in design and inexpensive to construct, and is durable and rugged in structure.
Still further objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the ensuing description and drawings of the invention.
These and other objects are achieved by an ear probe tip of the present invention. In one form of the invention, an ear probe tip is provided which comprises a body portion having an inner surface, an outer surface, a first end and a second end. The body portion inner surface defines a passage that extends the entire length of the body portion. The ear probe tip also has a plurality of flexible annular flanges disposed at spaced intervals on the outer surface of the body portion.